KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has achieved a 99.7 per cent  COVID-19 vaccination rate for more than 41,000 employees serving its group of companies in Malaysia.

Petronas’ senior vice-president of group human resource management, Farehana Hanapiah said the high vaccination rate, as at January 2022, is attributed to the aggressive efforts taken to safeguard the health and safety as well as the cooperation and willingness of employees and, by extension, those serving in the industry as well as their families and dependents.

“Our priority from the beginning was to ensure safety and health of employees at the workplace for our business operations to continue to run safely and efficiently across the value chain, so the supply of fuel and energy to our customers and all Malaysians would not be disrupted. This is critical so that businesses, economic activities, essential services and daily life could continue with minimal or no interruptions.

“One of the ways towards this was to ensure that our employees receive as much protection as possible from the onset of the pandemic, and hastening their vaccination as soon as the vaccines became available for the industry workforce,” she said when contacted by Bernama.

Following the roll-out of Malaysia’s vaccination programme in February 2021, Petronas, under the public-private partnership immunisation programme in June 2021, operationalised the first vaccination centre (PPVIN) for the oil and gas industry in Pengerang, Johor.

This was followed by five other similar PPVINs, which opened in quick succession, namely in Bintulu and Miri, Sarawak, in Kuala Terengganu and Kertih in Terengganu, and in Sungai Udang, Melaka.

All in all, more than 30,000 persons were vaccinated at the six PPVINs. These included more than 9,000 Petronas employees, while the remaining vaccine recipients were oil and gas industry workers, dependents and some members of the community.

“The successful setup and operation of all the PPVINs for the oil and gas industry was the result of a massive collaboration between Petronas and many parties including the federal and state health authorities, our partners, contractors and service providers,” she added.

Apart from the PPVINs, Petronas also launched an offshore immunisation outreach programme that saw the vaccination of more than 2,000 offshore workers and crew members in Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan.

In addition, Petronas worked with the state authorities in Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Perlis to contribute to and facilitate the vaccination of more than 5,500 employees and contractors as well as their families and dependents.

At the same time, employees were encouraged to get vaccinated under the national immunisation programme. All employees were given special leave of up to two days for each vaccination visit, and up to one day to accompany their children or dependents for vaccination.

Employees can also claim travel and meal allowances if they travel out of state for vaccination.

“In essence, we spared no effort in making it convenient for all employees to receive their vaccinations. As at January 2022, a total of 41,654 employees in Malaysia have been fully vaccinated. Sadly, we also lost 42 of our employees and contractors to COVID-19. Internationally, 22 personnel serving our operations succumbed to the virus.

“Our focus now includes encouraging all eligible employees and contractors to get their COVID-19 booster shots to give themselves a better level of protection against the virus, especially with the emergence of newer, more transmissible variants,” Farehana said.

This is important to keep all of us in the industry and our country safe, she added.

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